Villars Statement on Relief and Development

A WORLD IN NEEDThe extent of hunger and deprivation around the world is a reality haunting modern times.Confronted with disaster, disease, and chronic poverty, relief and development agencies haveprovided massive material assistance. Yet for all the resources expended, hunger and deprivationappear to be increasing. The sad reality is that so much effort has produced little in long-termresults.

This reality calls us as Christians to reassess the work of relief and development in light of Godâ€™s HolyWord. It is our conclusion that the consistent application of Biblical teaching will require areorientation of relief and development practices, and that this may involve a change in ourunderstanding of human need and in strategies to relieve suffering.

â€œRelief and developmentâ€ is an expression that recognizes two Biblical principles. Relief refers tothe insistence in both Testaments that the people of God must help the hungry and oppressed.Development stems from the Biblical vision of a people exercising their proper stewardship ofGodâ€™s giftsâ€”of societies that are productive, healthy, and governed justly. Together, relief anddevelopment envision substantial improvement in economic and human well being.We acknowledge our own sinfulness and fallibility, and we recognize that other committedChristians may not agree with all our convictions. Nevertheless, we are compelled by Godâ€™s Wordand by the reality of human suffering to share our convictions with Christians and others. We do notclaim to have spoken the final word. Thus, we offer the following conclusions of the Villarsconsultation for the research, dialogue, and open debate among all who claim Christ as Lord.

ISSUES OF CONCERNWith this as our goal, we raise our concerns over the following issues:

1. The failure to operate from a distinctively Biblical perspective in both methods and goals.

3. The attempt to synthesize Marxist categories and Christian concepts, to equateeconomic liberation with salvation, and to use the Marxist critique, withoutVILLARS STATEMENT ON RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT, 2recognizing the basic conflict between these views and the Biblical perspective.

4. The emphasis on redistribution of wealth as the answer to poverty and deprivationwithout recognizing the value of incentive, opportunity, creativity, and economic andpolitical freedom.

5. The attraction to centrally controlled economics and coercive solutions despite thefailures of such economies and their consistent violation of the rights of the poor.

6. A disproportionate emphasis on changing structures without recognizing thefrequency with which this only exchanges one oppressive structure for another.

7. The danger of utopian and ideological entrapment, whether from the left or the right.

8. Neglecting to denounce oppression when it comes from one end or the other of thepolitical spectrum.

9. Focusing on external causes of poverty in exploitation and oppression withoutconfronting those internal causes that are rooted in patterns of belief and behaviorwithin a given culture.

10. The need to make conversion and discipleship an essential component of Christianrelief and development work, and to carry this out in conjunction with the localchurch.

11. The need to apply the teaching of the Bible as a whole in the areas of personal life,family, and work, but equally in the shaping of the culture and social life.

12. The need to reaffirm the Biblical support for the family as the basic social and economicunit and its right to own and control property, and to stand against any ideology thatwould diminish the familyâ€™s proper role in any of these areas.

13. The need to oppose a false understanding of poverty which makes poverty itself avirtue, or which sanctifies those who are poor on the basis of their poverty.

BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVEIn response to these issues we draw attention to the following Biblical teaching and itsimplications for relief and development:

1. God created mankind in His own image, endowing man with freedom, creativity,significance, and moral discernment. Moreover, prior to the Fall, man lived inharmony with all of Godâ€™s creation, free from pain, suffering, and death.

2. The devastating reality of sin and evil, hunger, oppression, deprivation, disease,death, and separation from God is the result of manâ€™s rebellion against God, whichbegan at the Fall and continues through history.

3. The causes of hunger and deprivation, therefore, are spiritual as well as material andcan only be dealt with adequately insofar as the spiritual dimension is taken intoaccount.

4. Manâ€™s rebellion against God affects every aspect of human existence. The Fall resultedVILLARS STATEMENT ON RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT, 3in Godâ€™s curse on creation and in destructive patterns of thought, culture, andrelationships, which keep men and women in bondage to poverty and deprivation.

5. The work of Christian relief and development, therefore, must involve spiritualtransformation, setting people free from destructive attitudes, beliefs, values, andpatterns of culture. The proclamation of the gospel and the making of disciples,then, is an unavoidable dimension of relief and development workâ€”not only foreternal salvation, but also for the transformation of culture and economic life.

6. When people were held in bondage to hunger and deprivation by unjust socialstructures, the Bible consistently denounced those who perpetuated suchoppression and demanded obedience to Godâ€™s law. The Biblical emphasis, then, isnot on â€œsinful structures,â€ but rather on sinful human choices that perpetuatesuffering and injustice.

7. Godâ€™s ultimate answer for suffering and deprivation is the gift of His only Son, JesusChrist, who broke the power of sin and death by His own death and resurrection.The decisive victory was won on the cross in the atoning death of Christ for all whowould believe Him. The final victory will be accomplished when Christ returns inpower and glory to reign with His people. Until that time, all who claim Jesus astheir Lord are called to care for those in need as the Holy Spirit enables them, andto share the only message of true hope for a broken world.

CONCLUSIONTherefore, in light of the issues raised and the Biblical perspective outlined here, we encourageresearch, dialogue, and debate among all who claim Christ as Lord, so that we may serve Himmore faithfully and work together more effectively.